26.10.09

Today in Creative Imaging we had a field trip to the zoo! We were there from about 11:00 am till 2:00 pm. It was somewhat chilly out and cloudy. Cloudy days are my favorite time to shoot. I really enjoyed shooting at the zoo, with all the unique animals from all over the world. Winnipeg may not have one of the best zoos, but we do have a pretty good zoo, I think people in our city don't go enough. The zoo is especially good for the kids, to learn and actually see all the different kinds of animals.

It was good to shoot somewhere that wasn't all to familiar to me and did have a lot to look at. The only thing I wish could have been different would be me having a telephoto lens, especially all the animals I couldn't get close to. In the end, I am satisfied with a lot of the photos I ended up with.

22.10.09

This afternoon I head over to St. Vital Park to take some photos of four adorable children, Anthony, Isabelle, Adrian and Ethan. All Britos but all different in their own unique way. Anthony the adventurous one was a perfect subject for the 300mm telephoto lens. Isabelle sure showed her true colors carrying around her hot pink flowers dressed in her hot pink dress and classy fur coat, both made by her talented mother. Adrian was just precious growling in his tiger halloween costume. Ethan, who will be one in a couple of weeks, was amazed with all the sights of autumn and was the cutest pumpkin I have ever seen! I hope each of them have a fun filled Halloween with lots of candy!

21.10.09

For this assignment I chose Elliot Erwitt who was born in France 1928 and lived most of his life in the states. He is known for his sophisticated and humorously black & white photos. Erwitt has done a wide variety of work in his life including feature films, television commercials, documentary films, print advertisements, fashion photography, celebrity portraits, children and much more. What I love about Elliott Erwitt is how most of his photographs tell a story without any words. His photographs are not only nice to look at but really make you think, or laugh, or just get some kind of reaction.

In Erwitt’s life he used a large variety of camera, which isn’t surprising since he shot photos for over half a century. After reasearching it seems he has used a IIIF, then a IIIG with 50mm, a Leica M3 with a 50mm or 90mm, a Leica M6 with 50mm, Leica RF, Contax G2 with the Sonnar 45mm f2.0 and the Sonnar 90mm f2.8, 50mm Summicron f2 collapsible. A large case full of almost the complete line of Canon F-1, lens from 16mm to 300mm, multiple bodies, motors, prisms, etc., and recently a Canon EOS. Though it seems the Leica M3 was the one he used the most for his most popular black and white shots.

For personal work with film he has stated he used Kodak Tri-X developed in D-76 and for the commercial work medium and large format, colour film, slides. Kodak Tri-X is a black and white film with finer grain and increased sharpness. Kodak D-76 developer provides ourstanding shadow detail with normal contrast and produces fine grain.

Most of Erwitt’s shots have a humorous yet classy style to them. Erwitt’s photos show many of the rules of photography that we learn in of our classes at Prairie View. Things like interesting depth of field, rule of thirds, natural framing, line and much more. I think Elliot Erwitt’s work is strong, and interesting. I appreciate how he searches through everyday life and uses his skill and creativity to turn simple moments it into art. I believe the technical choices Erwit makes when taking photos show his skill and experience. He is someone I can look to for inspiration.

This evening Laura and me met up at my house and walked around Wolseley to take pictures for our multiple projects. We both got some good photos and discovered we want each others lenses. I'm so jealous of hers. Also during our walk I of course stalked Laura out a few times and shot her when she wasn't looking. :)

Last Sunday I went over to my cousins to meet their new baby girl Adrianna Elise Demarcke. She is the second daughter to Alaina and Dan, and sister to Laura. She is adorable! I of course had to take photos and will be using a few for assignments.